Arun Rajaraman

I do a 'reflections' and 'next year plan' blog end of the year. You can read the 2024 one here . Some years, I also do a mid-year check-in to see how I'm trending on my goals/plans, the 2025 mid-year one is here . When I started out the year, I had Boston Marathon in Apr and Malnad Ultra 50 km in Nov on the horizon, race-wise. As with everything, plans change, whilst I ran Boston Marathon and Malnad Ultra, I also ran Sydney Marathon and two other half marathons which weren't in the plan.  I was very fortunate to have had a decent training block building up to Boston Marathon and a decent race too which I have covered here . In Boston, I also got my Abbott World Marathon Major Six stars medal at the finish line for successfully completing all the Six World Marathon Major races around the world, a journey I started in Chicago back in Oct of 2017. The original six races are Chicago, Berlin, NYC, London, Tokyo and Boston. I have listed them in the order I ran them o...

I ran Sydney Marathon end of Aug, you can read more about it here . I have been meaning to run Malnad Ultra since 2022, I have blogged about wanting to participate back in 2022 ,  2023  and 2024 . I finally got around to running it, my second Ultra. My debut was in Jaisalmer last Dec, you can read about that here . I always give myself complete rest of 3-weeks after every marathon, which meant I slip into easy running only by Sep 21 having run Sydney Marathon on Aug 31. However, after my return from Sydney, I ended up registering for a half marathon, my favorite half in my favorite city, you can read about my last appearance at this race and the fun I had during the trip back in 2019 here . At Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon I chose to pace my friend (Gautham CB) for a sub 2-hours finish, both Gautham and I had a lot of fun during the race, the race went per plan, we managed a comfortable sub 2-hours finish, splits are here . From Delhi, I headed straight to Pune for about 10 days...

The thought to run Sydney Marathon this year came when Gautham CB, GCB (runner friend) having finished the Abbott World Marathon Majors (WMM) Six Star in 2024 registered for Sydney Marathon in Jan to claim his 7th WMM Star, GCB promptly called me and told me to register and run Sydney Marathon end of Aug. Initially I rubbished the idea stating, I would be running Boston in Apr (you can read about my Boston outing here ), and that I did not want to run another marathon in 4 months and that I would look at running Sydney Marathon Aug 2026. GCB and Rashmi persisted, I decided to reluctantly give in. But then I also convinced Bharath and Vinay to register which on hindsight, I am sure they'd agree was a brilliant idea. As a few weeks passed by, I came to realize there was a huge contingent of Abbott WMM Six Stars finishers, many of my friends who'd be running the race this year. I can't thank GCB and Rashmi enough that I registered for the race too.  The 13 weeks training block...

My 2024 summary is here . This is a midyear check-in to see how I am doing against my 2025 goals (in Italics).   Remain injury free : I have been fortunate to avoid injuries so far, possibly because I don't run at high paces :)   Consistent Training volume : Targeting 3650 km for the year and 100-120 strength training sessions. Currently at 46% of the goal ( 1680.27 km YTD) with 60 strength sessions completed—this pace aligns well with last year's midyear progress, suggesting I'm on track to meet or even surpass my targets.   Try and fix sleep : My goal is to consistently average 7 hours of sleep per night, which is about 30 minutes more than my current average of 6h11m. Improving my sleep is important because better rest will leave me feeling more refreshed and support stronger performance in my training   Stricter diet/nutrition/portion control focus : I am disciplined 50-60% of the time. My f ruits intake ought to improve and junk food intake could reduce f...

An ex-colleague and a good friend of mine from my McAfee days asked me this question via LinkedIn messaging the other day, 'What does running Marathon mean to you? ' It got me thinking and I thought I should collect my thoughts and put it in a blog. If and when another person asks me the same question, I can point them at this blog. Running a marathon is a life-changing experience that pushes physical and mental limits, testing your endurance, resilience, and determination. Completing a marathon is a significant achievement that can bring numerous benefits; however, it requires careful preparation and attention to potential risks like with anything in life. Whether it’s jumping off a plane or swimming in the ocean or mountain-climbing or summiting Everest. Why I run regularly and occasionally participate in marathons , Physical Health Benefits: Running a marathon can improve cardiovascular health, boost metabolism, and increase lung function. Regular training can also reduce th...

Week 13, updated Tuesday, 2-Sep-25 0935 I did two 30-minutes easy runs on Monday and Wednesday before getting on the plane to Sydney for the Sydney Marathon. Vinay, Bharath, Abhilash and I did a 25 minutes shakeout run Saturday morning around the Sydney harbour area purely to move our legs and as weather check. The harbour was full of runners doing their shakeout run before the Sunday race. This would be the last update to this weekly build up for Sydney Marathon. Distance: 13.93 km Exercise Duration: Running: 1:25:25 Weight: 71.0 kg 13 weeks mileage: 930.62 km (71.58 km/week) Week 12, updated Saturday, 23-Aug-25 1115 Monday was an easy 10 km run followed by a rest day on Tuesday. Wednesday was another 10 km run with the latter 5 km at a steady pace followed by a rest day on Thursday. Friday was a 5 mile run at an easy pace. The plan for the weekend was an 8 miler. Vinay and I spoke a day prior and decided to run the first 2.5 miles easy, followed by steady 5 miles and then an easy jog...